


Mistaken Calls

by orphan_account



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: All I ask is acknowledgement that you did not write the bits I wrote, But I figured people would like a heads up, If somebody wants to continue this go ahead, Just take it and run with it baby, Not technically graphic descriptions of violence, There is some mild descriptions of injuries!, Work Up For Adoption, unfinished work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:15:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24061201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Flash gets a call at 1:53 am.
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Flash Thompson, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson
Comments: 14
Kudos: 151





	1. "Help"

Peter’s finger slips, and he calls Flash instead of Ned. It’s too late though, as Peter lays there, gasping for breath, too feeble to even hang up and call the correct number. He thinks he hears Flash’s voice come through, but for the first time since the bite, he can’t seem to hear anything. 

“Help…” he manages to cough out, before the void claims its stake upon him. 

Flash gets a call at 1:53 am. Groaning, he wakes up and rolls onto his side, blindly patting on his bedside table to find his phone. He squints at the bright screen, confusion overcoming him as the caller ID shows up with Parker’s name. Grunting but assuming it’s important (because who in their right minds calls at nearly two in the morning) Flash answers. 

“H’llo?” he mumbles, closing his eyes and weakly holding the phone against his ear. 

“Help...” A faint yet definitely familiar voice answers. 

“This better not be a prank, Parker, I swear,” Flash mumbles angrily. 

Silence. 

Flash waits another moment. 

“Parker?”

Still nothing. 

“Peter.”

“Peter!”

There’s nothing. Concern wakes Flash up enough to hang up and call Ned. He isn’t a complete asshole, only going as far as verbal jabs and teasing; but if Peter was hurt and needed help he’d do his best. 

“Flash, the hell man?” Ned’s tired voice answers. 

“Is Peter there with you?” Flash asks quickly. 

“What?”

“Parker. Is he with you?” Ned sounds more awake when he answers again. 

“No, he should’ve been home about an hour ago. Why?” Flash absently wonders why Peter was out so late, but dismisses it and focuses on the current problem at hand. 

“He called me asking for help.”

“What did he say? What  _ exactly _ did he say, Flash.”  _ Ned knows something _ , Flash thinks. 

“Help. That’s it.”

“Was his voice faint at all? Distant? Was there any gurgling, coughing, anything else irregular?” Flash is a little taken aback but answers anyways. 

“Uh, his voice was kind of quiet. Faint? Distant maybe?”

“Shit.  _ Fuck. _ Alright, I’m going to walk you through tracking the call.”

“You’re going to  _ what _ ?”

“Track his call. He needs help, like, yesterday.”


	2. Why? What Happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm coming with," Flash decides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all wanted a second chapter, inspiration struck, and I really like this story so here we go! Chapter two out of who knows how many!

They track Peter down to an insignificant alleyway. It's in Queens, between some commercial buildings and whatnot, seemingly random. 

_There's no reason for Parker to be there,_ Flash thinks to himself. Sleep addled as he is, he tries and fails to come up with any reasons as to  _ why _ . 

"I'll go get him," Ned quickly says, but Flash doesn't trust him. He may be seconds away from falling back asleep, but something is going on, and he can't help but want to know what. And maybe he's a little worried too. ( _ Peter's quiet, frail, nearly unhearable cry for help in the early hours of the morning, voice cracking and desperate; something  _ **_bad_ ** _ happened. _ ) 

"I'm coming with," he decides. 

"No-" Ned immediately protests and Flash rolls his eyes.  _ Add that to the apparently evergrowing list of suspicious activity.  _

"With or without you, Leeds."

"..." He's got him, he's sure. 

"Fine."  _ Knew it.  _

"Great. Meet you there."

Somehow, despite  _ not  _ owning a car, Leeds got there before Flash. Said boy is already covering Parker in an old, stained blanket (it's too dark to see with what, but it looks dark and stiff and - Flash doesn't want to think about it). 

"Is he alright?" Flash says, crouching next to the two. 

With Parker effectively covered, he can't see any injuries except for his wildly bruised face. Flash can't hide the wince when he sees the cuts and dried blood, the black and blue crawling on Parker's face and creeping down his neck. The split lip and nasty gash through his right eyebrow. Anxiety and worry bubbles up, making him feel sick just thinking about how this could've happened. 

What Flash  _ can  _ see, however, is that Parker is knocked out cold. With those few injuries he can see, Flash has decided that is  _ not _ a good thing, and that inflating knot in his chest tightens with every outcome to this Flash thinks of. Suddenly, he's overcome with the urge to help, to fix this, to take care of Parker or something. Knowing Parker, he probably did something really fucking stupid yet kindhearted enough you can't fault him for it, the dumbass. 

"He'll be fine," Leeds pulls him out of his thoughts. 

A beat of silence. 

"Always is," Leeds whispers. 

With him lost in his own thoughts, Flash gives Parker another once-over. He's shivering, subconsciously trying to curl into himself. 

"Hey, let's get him to my car or something. Parker looks like he's about to turn into a popsicle." Numbly, Leeds nods and picks up the human burrito. 

Flash follows closely behind Leeds, keeping a vigilant eye on his two classmates. He feels like there's something he's **just** missing, something right in front of him. Flash almost wants to ask, wants to demand to know, just what the hell is going on?  Instead he opens the backdoor for Leeds and holds it open while he gently lays down Parker's cold, creepily still form. 

Leeds stares at Parker for a long moment. Flash's own gaze is stuck on him too. Flash just stands there, hands shoved in his pockets, thinking about who could've hurt someone like Parker. (Flash doesn't count, he just verbally jabs at the boy, he swears he'd never do anything like this. Ever!)

When Leeds walks away to crawl into the passenger's seat, Flash all but shoves his fingers into Parker's neck. 

**Ba _bum_. Ba _bum_. **

Sighing in relief, Flash too steps away. 


	3. Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
>  It wasn't a one time thing.  
>  _

"So, where to?" Flash asks, almost nervous of what could possibly happen next. He adjusts the temperature, fiddling until the heater turns on, and steals a glance in the mirror.  _ Parker'll be fine, I'm sure… right? But Leeds seemed oddly used to - no, no way. Uh uh, you're just tired Flash.  _

"Uh, my house, I can give you directions," Leeds says, mind somewhere else. 

"Lead the way," Flash awkwardly agrees. 

Leeds carries Parker into his house, and Flash watches from his car. He doesn't wonder anymore, mind going blank. He feels numb, and somewhat dumbstruck. There's this whole other side - no,  _ world _ , to Parker and Leeds. He … isn't quite sure he wants to know just what that world is. 

_ A call at one in the morning, Parker was passed out in alley, injured, Leeds came prepared with an old blanket - 'He'll be fine, always is'? _

Flash pulls out of the driveway. 

Flash doesn't get any answers that night. Nor does he get any sleep. He keeps checking his phone, times between getting shorter. He's constantly looking for a text or call from Leeds or, hell, even Parker. 

_Is he alright? No no, Leeds said he'd be - but what if? Gah! This is wrong wrong wrong! I mean, I shouldn't care_ \-- Parker is still, skin no longer a silky texture, all broken and bruised -- _I just - he'll be_ ** _fine_** _, I'm sure. But just in case._

Flash picks up his phone again, hitting the home button. Nothing. He turns it on and off a couple times. Still nothing. 

_ I'll check tomorrow.  _

Parker's beaten body constantly flashes through his mind's eye and Flash finds himself comparing that image to the current Parker in front of him.  It doesn't stop nagging at him all week. 

In fact, it seems to be the only thing on his mind, and Flash starts noticing little things he never did before. The way Parker is obviously wearing makeup, how he sometimes favors one arm, walks with a slight limp, awkwardly bends himself in odd ways to avoid bending another part of his body. 

_ It wasn't a one time thing _ , Flash realizes.  _ That night, it's fucking happened before.  _ He's seething, doesn't know why. Is it human empathy? Does he care about Parker? Flash decides _fuck it_ he doesn't care why, he just wants to know why Parker is always hurt, and wants to stop whoever is doing this. 

Flash opens up a note on his phone. 

_ Why is Parker always beaten up? AKA Parker Investigation _

_ \- Leeds knows _

_ \- Parker tries to cover it up (concealer, brave face, good actor?) _

_ \- Fights? _

He stares at that last point. It seems a little ridiculous, isn't it far-fetched for the local scrawny nerd to be out wailing on people? But… Flash glances across the classroom at Parker. He's wearing baggy clothes, but his back and shoulders are kind of broad, the knuckles lightly wrapped around his pencil are cracked and scabbed, his posture is stiff and he isn't unhealthily hunched over like everybody else. 

_ \- Fights, at night? _

A call at one-thirty am…

_ \- Fights, LATE at night? _

_ \- Involved in bad things? Why else FIGHTING and AT NIGHT?? Illegal shit? _

Flash finds himself observing Parker closely for the rest of class. 


	4. Noticing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash adds a few things to his list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this chapter was already written and I didn’t finish it off until now, so here it is! Once I figure out HOW to do it, I promise we’ll get into Flash investigating deeper.

Parker disappears a  _ lot _ , Flash finds out. On some base level, he already knew this. But now that he's paying attention? It happens far more than it should, especially for a supposedly goody-two-shoes like Parker. His disappearances make another point on Flash's list. 

Said list is often on Flash's mind, and he just wants to get this figured out so he can delete the damned thing. It almost feels cursed, something forbidden. Like he shouldn't be looking into this. But Flash is nothing if stubborn. So, the list grows. 

He starts noticing that Parker is gone for lunches, more often than not. In their shared math class, Parker seemingly makes an effort to show up. Flash assumes it's the same throughout his other classes, which can somewhat be proven true with the knowledge that Parker also tries to consistently attend AcaDec, profusely apologizing when he doesn’t. 

The moments Parker  _ is _ missing are sporadic. They're sudden, and not even Parker himself is expecting it. Not by the way he suddenly goes rigid, stutters out an excuse no one believes, then abruptly leaves. Their math teacher, Mrs. Hudgins, had given up on telling him off long ago, letting him skip away whenever. 

Flash, however, is not granted the same immunity. 

About two weeks into watching Parker, trying to figure out the complex puzzle with adding suspicion, Parker exits math class and nobody expects him back. Flash sets to leave but Mrs. Hudgins brings him back with a halfhearted "where are you going?" and a "one student at a time" when Flash tries the ol' faithful "bathroom" excuse. 

So, Flash sits, periodically checking the door to see if Parker is coming back. 

He never does. 

Flash does, however, spot him across the room at lunch, chatting with Ned about something. Parker has on a large hoodie that swamps his body, the hood shadowing his face. Curiously, Flash looks at the guy’s knuckles, and, yup. They’re cracked, coated in dry blood, the surrounding skin rubbed raw. This isn’t a new observation; Parker’s knuckles almost always look like they’ve been shredded. The hood is new, but Flash can probably guess what it’s hiding (and he doesn’t like it, not one bit). 

Noticing these things are getting Flash nowhere though. He only sees the surface level stuff everybody does. He needs to dig deeper, Flash realizes. 


End file.
